Rahul Gandhi says Hollande has called Modi a thief, PM should reply

Stepping up his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said former French President Francois Hollande has called him a thief in the Rafale deal and sought a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the agreement to purchase 36 fighter jets from FranceAddressing a press conference a day after Hollande had said that the French government had no role in making a private Indian firm get the offset contract he questioned Modis silence and asked him to come clean on whether Hollande was telling the truth or notNow what the exPresident of France is saying is that the Prime Minister of India is a thief That is what the statement is saying It is very important for the PM now to either accept Hollandes statement and say that he is telling the truth or that Hollande is not telling the truth and here is the truth Gandhi saidGandhi alleged it is for the first time probably in the Indian history an exPresident is calling our PM a thief and said Modi should make his position very clearIt is the question of dignity of office of PM it is a question related to defence future of our jawans Air Force What I am surprised by is that the PM is completely silent Not one word has come out from the PMs mouth after this comment After all this gentleman is the expresident of France who had a oneonone meeting with Prime Minister where the Rafale contract was decided Gandhi saidReferring to Modi having earlier described himself as a chowkidar watchman Gandhi said he had given a free gift of Rs 30000 crore to his industrialist friendWe are absolutely convinced that PM of India is corrupt This question is now clearly settled in the minds of the India people that the countrys watchman is a thief This has gone in the minds of the peopleGandhi began by reading out remarks of Hollande to a French website Mediapart in which he does not mention Modi directlyIt interviewed Hollande on phone in which he said I intervened in this affair Rafale with the two prime ministers to say that I was keen for this negotiation Initially the deal was supposed to be for 126 planes Then when the government changed the Indians reformulated their proposition less attractive for us because it was for 36 aircraft only But the manufacturing was planned to be in France Contrary to the preceding proposition we lost on the one hand and gained on the otherAsked about the French Government stating that it was not involved in selecting the offset partner Gandhi said It is very clear that the French government has given a statement that is stating what the procedures areHere there was oneonone meeting with the Prime Minister and the President of France In that meeting the contract was signed And the exPresident of France has said that in that meeting I was clearly told that the contract had to go to Mr Ambani It is now up to the Prime Minister of India to clear his nameGandhi said he was trying to help the Prime Minister and asking him to give a statement I want to save the dignity of his office and tell the people that what Hollande had said is not correct But you are still unable to speakAsked if the party will seek Modis resignation Gandhi said that ministers of the Modi government were speaking lies to protect the Prime MinisterReferring to his speech in parliament during the noconfidence motion Gandhi said he had mentioned about his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and claimed that the French leader had stated that the price of the Rafale fighter jet was not part of the secrecy agreement and it could be revealedHe said the Rafale aircraft was negotiated for Rs 526 crore by the UPA government but purchased for Rs 1600 crore by the Modi governmentGandhi said youth had faith in Modi He took the money out of your pocket from the pockets of all defence personnel You had reposed faith in the Prime Minister and he has broken thatHe said the offsets contract was taken away from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited HAL and one of its former officials had contradicted Defence Minister Sitharamans claim about the ability of the organisation to build Rafale jetsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Except for the change in the headline the story has been provided ASIS AS AVAILABLE without any verification or editing from our side Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever